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1996 tube stock

This page was last modified on 17 July 2011

The 1996 tube stock entered service in 1997, and
comprises 63 seven-car trains which form the Jubilee Line fleet.
Originally 6-car trains, they were was augmented under the 7-car project. Since 26 June 2011 the
trains have been running under ATO throughout the line.

Above: A westbound Jubilee Line train
approaches West Ham, with de-icing unit 96108 leading; its
train-number/destination display appears not to be working. On the left
in the foreground is a repeater for “draw-up” signal
TU100; this was read from the eastbound road, from whose
platform this photo was taken. All colour-light signals on the Jubilee
Line have since become disused following the switch-over to TBTC. (11 July 2006 at
14:04)

History

Phase One of the Jubilee Line opened in May 1979, taking over the
Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo Line and running in new tunnels through
the West End to Charing Cross. At first, the line used 1972
MkII stock, until all the 1983 stock had been brought into use in 1989.
The 1983 stock was not particularly successful as, amongst other
problems, it had been designed with four single-leaf doors per side (like
the D stock)
which impeded swift passenger boarding and alighting, increasing station
dwell times.

The Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) from Green Park via
Canary Wharf to Stratford was completed in November 2000, but a full
service over the extended Jubilee Line would require about twice the
number of trains as with Phase One. The plan was originally to order
enough new trains to make up the necessary total; therefore they were
designed to match the 1983 stock, having the same cross-section profile
and window-arrangement. However, what actually happened was that a full
fleet totalling 59 brand-new trains was ordered from what is now called
Alstom (formerly GEC Alsthom, itself the successor of
Metro-Cammell) in Birmingham, and this type is known as the 1996
Tube Stock.

Train 321 calls at Finchley Road with a northbound
service from Charing Cross (RIP) to Wembley Park. The dot after the
car-number denotes that de-icing equipment is fitted to unit
96090; ‘A’-end units (even numbers) between
96080 and 96118 inclusive are so equipped. (8
Jan 1999)

Delivery

Delivery and commissioning of the 1996 stock took place well ahead of
the 1995
stock Northern Line trains despite the latter’s earlier
type-name. Following initial delivery by rail to Ruislip depot for
commissioning, some trains were delivered by road to Stratford Market
Depot, while others were transferred from Ruislip to Neasden using 1962 tube stock
pilot-units. Because of a lack of space some trains had to be stored
following commissioning, at MOD Kineton, Cockfosters Depot, and Charing
Cross overrun sidings, among other places.

The first run in service was on Christmas Eve 1997, and by July 1998
the 30 or so trains required to work the existing Jubilee Line (to
Charing Cross) had been brought into use and so the 1983 tube stock was withdrawn. Delivery of
new trains continued; some of these trains only worked on the segregated
Stratford–Waterloo section at first, or only entered service after
the JLE had been fully opened; and so these trains never worked to
Charing Cross in passenger service. Unit 96104 was the last of the
original 59 trains to enter service, on 31 July 2001; however, this was
considerably later than the majority of the fleet.

Most of the withdrawn 1983 tube stock’s Batch II units were
initially stored in depots and sidings around the Underground system,
pending what could have been a total rebuild and incorporation into
Piccadilly Line trains, various other options; however none of these
happened and they have gone—or are destined—for scrap.

Description

1996 stock trains, like their 1995 stock counterparts, were originally made up of
two three-car units coupled back-to-back, each comprising three cars: a
Driving Motor, a Trailer, and an Uncoupling Non-Driving Motor. Since the
end of 2005 they have included an additional Special Trailer car —
see The 7-car project for
details.

The 1996 stock’s design was “frozen” in 1991, so the
technology dates from then; this explains the earlier delivery than the
1995 stock, and the technical differences found between the two. These
trains use Gate Turn-Off Thyristors to control the supply of electric
current to the traction motors, the system being very similar to
Connex’s Networker trains — the “gear-changing”
noise can be heard as the train accelerates from rest. In common with
the other recent tube stocks, carriages are equipped with externally-hung
air-operated doors, perch seats near the central door standbacks (the
Northern trains have tip-up seats there), car-end windows, digital
voice-announcements, plus in-car and platform-to-train CCTV.

Above: A southbound Jubilee Line train,
headed by unit number 96027, runs the 600 metres to Finchley
Road from West Hampstead; the latter is visible beyond the rear of the
train. (Friday 8 January 1999, after the morning peak.)

At the left of this photo can be seen the northbound Jubilee with a
trailing connection from the northbound Metropolitan track to its left;
this has since been removed, and plain track inserted in the
Jubilee’s rails. The cream-coloured bars which appear alongside
each motor bogie on this stock are the positive shoebeams, and each
contains a pneumatic motor for lifting the pick-up shoe in response to
the Train Operator pressing a button in the cab.

Note the “exclamation-mark” board in the foreground,
facing northbound Jubilee Line drivers: if the passenger emergency alarm
is activated, the driver will stop if he can still see one of these
boards, otherwise he will continue to the next station where (as the
sticker says) “help can be more easily given”. Since this
photograph was taken, a new type of signage known as “count-up
markers” was introduced throughout the system (except on the JLE),
though the old can still be seen in many locations. The new type
consists of an ascending sequence of of single white numerals on light
blue backgrounds, which have been placed beyond each platform to give the
Train Operator an indication of how many cars have left the platform.
Their official description is
Station Limit Marker.

TBTC and ATO

The main cause of the overspend/overrun of the the Jubilee Line
Extension project was the complete failure of the installation of a new
moving-block signalling system, and subsequent hasty replacement by
conventional signals prior to opening. It took a further decade to
select, design, install, commission and test a new (nearly)-moving-block
signalling system, which had to be done during engineering closures.

The new signalling system, made by Alcatel, is called
Transmission-Based Train Control (TBTC); it works by having central
computers which continuously talk with each train via a pair of wires
laid on the track between the running-rails. Under TBTC, each train can
be driven manually to a target-speed and target-point described on the
Train Operator’s Display; or the computer can drive the train
itself, in Automatic Train Operation (ATO) mode.

Until 2011 the trains were always driven manually, but by the start of
2011 the line was running under both TBTC and ATO between Stratford and
Dollis Hill. Since 26 June 2011, the entire line has been operating
under TBTC and ATO, and thus the new 3rd platform at Stanmore entered
revenue service from that date.

Stratford Market Depot

The 1996 stock is now based at the state-of-the-art Stratford Market
depot at the eastern end of the JLE. In older depots access to the
underside of trains is gained by the construction of depot roads with a
pit between the rails, in which staff can stand upright beneath the
train. These aren’t the best solution in some cases, and
don’t comply with current safety legislation. At Stratford Market
Depot the “swimming-pool” type was used, in which the
floor-level around the tracks is lowered, leaving the rails supported by
a line of pillars. A shallow pit (about 1 foot deep) between the rails
allows staff to work beneath and to either side of the train at
comfortable heights throughout. The disadvantage is of course that the
train’s interior and its upper bodywork can only be accessed by
ladder systems, as can be seen below.

Above: A train headed by ‘A’-end unit
96064 receives attention on road 39 at Stratford Market
Depot. Note the yellow light showing in the left-hand
tail lamp: this is the calling-on light, which on this stock alone has no
separate luminaire of its own. It illuminates in steady mode
automatically when an OPO Alarm has been sent, or manually by a switch in
the cab; it also comes on in flashing mode whenever the train is in
slow-speed driving modes. (25 August 2006)

The 7-car project

When the 1996 stock and the Jubilee Line Extension were built,
provision was made in each for the addition of a seventh car to trains at
a later date. The section of line between Stanmore and Charing Cross had
already been served by 7-car trains of 1972
MkII tube stock previously, although these were slightly shorter on
account of lesser car-lengths.

In 2005, with ridership on the Jubilee Line soaring, and with
moving-block signalling still a few years away (2009, so we were told!),
the addition of the seventh car was implemented; this would immediately
increase line-capacity by 17%.

Many “enabling works” were carried out: extension of
reversing-sidings, relocation of platform-end barriers and
stopping-marks, adjustment of signal locations and track circuit berths,
and so on.

59 new cars, designated Special Trailer, were
delivered to Stratford Market Depot. These carry neither motors nor
compressor, indeed they are fitted with a concrete block as ballast.
They are numbered 96601 to 96717, odd numbers
only as they belong to D-end units. They form the third car of each D
unit, so trains are now formed thus:

DM-T-UNDM+UNDM-ST-T-DM

Approaching Christmas 2005, services on the Jubilee Line were
gradually thinned out as fewer trains became available: they were being
stopped for conversion to 7-car formation. Between Christmas and New
Year 2005/2006, the Jubilee Line was fully shut down for a couple of days
whilst the final infrastructure changes were made, Platform-Edge Doors
re-configured, and many trains fitted with the extra car. Services
resumed ahead of schedule and with minimal problems, and in the following
days the remainder of the fleet received the Special Trailer car; service
levels were ramped up to full accordingly.

Wouldn’t the 7-car trains be slower with no extra motors? The
answer is no, because the 1996 stock’s traction package has its
performance limited by a function within its software. It was a simple
matter of reconfiguring the software to allow propulsion of a 7-car train
with the same performance as it had been doing with a 6-car train. In
fact, the propulsion systems were still restricted – albeit less so
– and have only been fully utilised since ATO was introduced (just
like with the 1992 stock’s High
Performance Operating upgrade).

With plans then in motion for the new signalling system, it made sense
to combine the order for the Special Trailers with an order for some
extra trains: a greater train-frequency requires more trains! And so
four whole 7-car trains were built (units 96119 to
96126, none of them de-icing). These entered service around
January 2006.

The Special Trailers and the four new trains are virtually identical
in appearance to the original fleet, even carrying “1996”
legends on the step-plates in the doorways. However, a couple of
improvements have been made to comply fully with the Disability
Discrimination Act: the floors have textured black lino instead of smooth
grey in the doorway areas, and the saloon interior displays are coloured
orange instead of red.

Interior

Above: This view (taken between North Greenwich and the tube
mouths at Canning Town, for what it’s worth!) is rather dominated
by the bright and cheerful fluorescent lighting that runs the length of
the car ceiling; the atmosphere is not oppressive in the way that may be
suggested by the photograph! I can’t be all that complimentary
about the aquamarine greeny-blue colour used in some of the mouldings and
in the seating-moquette design — perhaps it’s just a matter
of personal taste. Grab-rails abound in yellow rather than in the grey
of the Line colour; like on the 1995 stock, this is probably both in
deference to partially-sighted users, and because given the Line colour
it would have been most unpleasant if used on the grab rails!

Not really visible in this view are the perch seats in part of the
centre area (the 1995 stock has tip-up seats at this point); simple but
very clear Digital Voice announcements are made in conjunction with
scrolling LED displays to give users advance information of the next
station and the train’s destination.

Above: This view from 1999, which is highly unlikely to be
seen again, shows 1996 stock (on the left) alongside 1995 stock in
Ruislip depot. At this stage, both trains had been delivered by rail to
Ruislip depot and were being fitted out prior to transfer (by pilot units of 1962 stock) to
their home depots, Neasden (at the time) and Golders Green respectively.
Closer frontal views of 1996 stock appear elsewhere on this page, and one
of 1995 stock appears here. Of note are a miniature
fork-lift trolley by the Jubilee train, and an automatic coupler unit
sitting on a pallet in the foreground.

Although the two types have the same basic bodyshell design, some
detail differences are visible from this angle. The most obvious is that
the the front cab (‘M’) door is different. Northern Line
trains (on the right) have a conventional door and handle, and open
inwards; a separate fold-out staircase is fitted into position to allow
passengers to detrain to the track in emergency. With 1996 stock (on the
left) however, the M door
hinges at its bottom to open outwards, where steps slide out to form
integral detraining stairs; this accounts for the door’s window
being smaller than on the Northern’s stock. Another difference is
that the space occupied by the Jubilee’s M-door release handle (low
down on left) has been used for the orange-LED calling-on lamp on the
Northern-Line stock.

In the driving cab

The 1995/1996 stock cabs are the most well-appointed and spacious
tube-stock cabs to date. There are some differences between the two with
the ‘M’ door layout (discussed above and below), and the location of certain secondary switches and displays,
but the general idea is very similar. The Train Operator’s seat is
adjustable for height and longitudinal position, and his hands fall
naturally to the controls. His right arm rests on the shiny black
armrest and he operates the red handle, which is a fore/aft Traction
Brake Controller (TBC); this, as it suggests, controls all accelerating
and braking of the train, as well as incorporating a deadman device.
This armrest-type TBC was first used on the 1992 tube
stock and appears in a similar form on these stocks.

The driver’s windscreen is of flat missile-resistant glass, and the
small oblong window to his left is for lining the train up with
stopping-markers placed on the tunnel walls (or on platform-edge doors or
railings) in stations; next to this can be seen the multi-purpose handset
through which the Operator speaks when using the Public Address, Train
Radio, Passenger Emergency-Alarm Talkback, or Cab-to-Cab phone.

Right: As we peer over the Train Operator’s shoulder,
we can see that he has in his line of sight a pair of screens in the
console. One or both (depending upon the station) of these One Person
Operation (OPO) monitors will display the view on the platform to him
from the moment he presses the Door Open buttons when stopped, until the
rear car of his train leaves the platform; these screens replace the
platform-mounted mirrors and CCTV monitors previously used on (and all
since removed from) the Jubilee Line.

On the right-hand wall of the cab (not yet illustrated) is a back-lit
LCD screen which allows the Train Management System (TMS) to give
information and warnings to the Train Operator. His left hand falls
naturally onto a keypad (seen in the horizontal white surround) by which
he can control the TMS, issuing instructions for the Digital Voice
Announcer, setting various parameters and responding to alarm conditions.
(On 1995 stock, one of the two screens in front of the Train Operator is
the TMS display and the other the OPO monitor, whereas both screens on
1996 stock are for OPO-monitor use only. This duality of monitors is
probably a design feature to allow a train with one defective OPO monitor
to continue in service; 1995 stock has a “monitor swap”
switch, presumably with just such an eventuality in mind.) Three rows of
buttons on the left wall control the on-board communications systems.

Note the ‘M’ door open in “detrainment” mode
(hinged at its base), the detraining steps slid into position, and the
trackwork visible beyond. The Traction Brake Controller is in its
Stowed position, but when in use the red handle (centre of
photograph) would be held 90 degrees round to the right by way of deadman
protection.

Left: This closer view clearly shows the One Person Operation
(platform view) screens; either side of these are the door operation
buttons. At top left is an emergency stop button which, when pressed,
breaks the round-the-train electrical circuit; this in turn
breaks the safety circuit and applies the emergency brakes (the deadman
device and the leading tripcock are also in the safety circuit).

At top right is the train’s air-reservoir gauge which has no
numbers, only coloured zones to denote the pressure status. Above the
OPO screens are the twin ATO start buttons, some indicator lamps
(including the Accurate Stop lamp which illuminates when the
train successfully “docks” with the platform), and the linear
speedometer. This has gradations in both mph and kph,
having a yellow Actual Speed indication above a red Target
Speed readout: both consist of a line of small LEDs which form a
bar-chart, with lower values towards the left-hand end.

Starting in late 2007, the speedometers in the fleet were replaced by
TFT screens which show current
speed as a bar-chart, and which display other information relating to the
new TBTC signalling-system
being introduced on the Jubilee Line.

All three of these views were taken on the same occasion as that
below; the car involved probably being 96010 (can any reader
provide confirmation?).

Detrainment steps and the ‘M’ door

The ‘M’ door on the 1996 tube stock is unique, as it can
be opened in two entirely different modes: inward-opening (for staff
access between train and track, or detraining between one train and
another), and detrainment (for evacuation of passengers from train to
track).

In detrainment mode, as seen here, the ‘M’ door hinges
down, having been released by a catch inside the cab, and a telescopic
arrangement of stairs slides into place. The door is suspended by
plastic-coated steel cables which double as handrails (of sorts –
they aren’t as good as the solution used on the 1973
stock).

Left: In Rickmansworth sidings at Steam On The Met 1999, this
Jubilee Line train shows off its novel detraining system.

Right: Here we can see the ‘M’ door in the
process of being deployed in its passenger detrainment mode,
i.e. outwards to form a staircase to track level. This can only be
activated from inside the cab, and part of the door system is pushed
outwards against a spring, before lowering under gravity with hydraulic
dampers into the deployed position. (25 August 2006)

Left: Here we see the ‘M’ door’s other
method of operation, its inward-opening mode, which can be
activated either by operating a pair of handles inside the cab, or the
external emergency-access lever found behind the flap below the offside
headlight. Once operated in this mode, the door behaves like an
aircraft’s plug door: it is pulled or pushed inwards on trunnions
for nearly a foot, before a locking bar is released and it can pivot on
its hinges to the open position as illustrated. This mechanism must have
looked good on paper, but it is cumbersome and fragile in the flesh, so
much so that the ‘M’ door may only be opened after gaining
authority from the Controller. Some years ago this writer once opened it
otherwise, whilst stopped at red signals in the tunnel during a
stock-move, and of course the whole mechanism broke leaving the door
jammed partly open; delay to the train service behind was avoided,
however.

Note the detrainment lights, situated inboard of either tail light,
which automatically illuminate whenever the ‘M’ door is not
fully closed (in either mode). This view is of 96031 which
is a ‘D’-end unit; this means it faces South/East (towards
Stratford), is now a 4-car unit, and carries an odd number. On the
nearside end of the headstock can be seen the 7-car project sticker. (25 August 2006)

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